It only felt like a month ago that I just finished building this years dream machine and we have word about the up coming Skylake-S processor from Intel, set to launch next year 2015 after Broadwell. If you been living under a rock, then I guest you haven’t heard about Intel’s Broadwell-E been postponed until 2016 and you can cleanly see why with Z87 and Z97 Chipset already on the market, followed by September’s launch with Haswell-E and X99 Chipset.

So when Broadwell hit’s the market sometime Q1 2015 we’ll have four different processors and three different Chipset’s to chose from. The lifespan of the Chipset wouldn’t last for to long if we were to have Z87, Z97 X99 and the New 100 series Z170 chipset that’s around the corner for Skylake-S to make four different Chipset total when the time comes. Think about with all of those processors and Chipset’s you can see why Intel postpone Broadwell-E we don’t need two HEDT processors plus all of those Chipset’s.

We already know Intel had plans for Broadwell to be a Ball Grid Array (BGA) only chip, until the people started complaining saying the PC was dead, well from the reports coming from around the web we can expect the chip that was mainly design for stupid Tables and Laptop’s to preform no better then it’s counter part Haswell, expect for one difference Power Saving.

We can safely say people with the Haswell Devil’s Canyon part won’t be upgrading anytime soon, I know I won’t be and wish I went with X99 Chipset instead of Mainstream desktop part, next upgrade HEDT all the way. The reason why am I writing about this chipset is because of The Z97 Chipset and The Evolution Run down and to keep notes of the hardware changes to come. With that here’s what’s going to be new in the 100 Series Chipset:
Skylake-S is a 14nm processor that is set to replace the Core i7 4790, Intel’s so-called Haswell refresh part, and according to some early information we gathered it might launch at Computex 2015 or in June 2015.

Skylake-S needs a new socket, new chipset and new motherboard. The socket is called LGA 1151 and has a single pin more than Haswell, the company’s current generation Core architecture. The new desktop processor supports both DDR4 1.2V and DDR3L 1.35V and it will be up to motherboard manufacturers to support one or the other.

The chipset that will let you overclock Skylake-S is called Z170 and it comes with 1 x 16 plus 2×8 or 1×8 plus 2×4 PCIe express 3.0 combination. SLI and Crossfire will continue to live in 2015 and beyond, there is no doubt about it. The Z170 board supports two memory channels with two modules each. In case you want to use integrated graphics, you can get three independent display outs for three monitors. The board supports Intel Rapid Storage Technology 14, Intel Smart Response Technology and has support for 14 USB ports, 10 of which can be USB 3.0. Intel is not implementing USB 3.1 and that would be a cool thing. We expect to see USB 3.1 shipping in 2015, but motherboard manufacturers will have to rely on external controllers.

Z170 boards will come with six SATA 6Gbps ports and a maximum of 20 lanes for PCI express capable ports. When it comes to storage, the Z170 boards support a maximum of three SATA Express ports X2 and three RST for PCIe Storage Ports (x4 M.2 or x2 SATA Express). New boards based on the Z170 chipset will support Skylake-S processors, bring DDR4 to more affordable performance PCs and most importantly will continue the support for new storage form factors including M.2 and SATA Express. mSATA may be on its way to an early retirement as the Z87 was the last chipset to support it.

Update

Intel Wants to Get Rid of Cables with Skylake-based Devices: The world’s largest chipmaker also proposed to use the WiGig 7Gb/s wireless technology for short range “docking” of devices. The WiGig docking is projected to connect to displays, high-capacity storage and peripherals when a device is moved within range and then swapping back out to standalone mode by just picking up and walking away, reports Cnet News.

While we can now expect the Skylake-based devices in 2015 – 2016 to feature the Rezence and the WiGig support, it should be noted that to truly take advantage of both, they need to be supported broadly. For example, café tables should be equipped with the Rezence technology to bring real benefits to the owners of new devices, which is not going to happen two years down the road. The WiGig (IEEE 802.11ad) that uses 60GHz bands is clearly a performance champ, but it has its own limitations (e.g., the 60GHz signal cannot penetrate walls and therefore routers have to fall back to a different band and protocol) that can slow down its adoption.

Intel 100-Series Skylake Chipset Platforms: Intel’s 100-series family of chipsets for Skylake microprocessors will contain six members: Q170, Q150, B150, H110, H170 and Z170, according to a publication by Chinese VR-Zone web-site. The new core-logic sets will support from eight to 20 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, up to three SATA Express x2 ports, USB 3.0 SSIC specification (up to 10 ports) and so on.

Thanks to the fact that the 100-series chipsets will support PCI Express 3.0 technology, the new Skylake-based PCs will be able to take advantage of multiple graphics cards and very rapid solid-state drives with SATA Express PCIe 3.0-based interface (with up to 2GB/s peak bandwidth). Improved support of multi-GPU configurations and SATAe PCIe 3.0 SSDs will automatically make Skylake-based platforms a choice of enthusiasts even despite of the fact that Intel has no plans to offer unlocked Skylake processors next year, according to alleged roadmap of the company.

Intel Reports Skylake Microprocessors will Not be Delayed: Although Intel Corp. had to delay introduction of its code-named “Broadwell” central processing units by about a year because of poor yields, the world’s largest chipmaker has no plans to delay launch of its next-generation “Skylake” chips or slow-down its ramp up. The company will start volume shipments of its new CPUs, as announced, in the second half of 2015.

Platforms based on the “Skylake” microprocessors are really going to bring a lot of new technologies to the market. For example, the new Intel 100-series chipsets will bring support for SATA Express storage interface, which will boost performance of solid-state drives and will drive demand for more advanced SSDs. In addition, new mobile platforms featuring “Skylake” chips will sport wireless charging, WiGig and other technologies, which will boost demand for new tablets, 2-in-1s and notebooks. In addition, the “Skylake” chips will support DDR4 memory.

Skylake chipset supports three M.2 / PCIe SSDs: Skylake is bringing a few new things to the performance market. The new socket doesn’t surprise anyone and it is called LGA 1151, has just one pin more than Haswell. The chipset is codenamed Sunrise Point and should work for the Skylake generation of processors and the 2016 Cannonlake Tick, It has 20 x PCIe 3.0, DMI 3.0 (4x PCIe 3.0) connection between CPU and the chipset. The number of SATA 6 G-bit ports remained six but the number of native USB 3.0 ports grew to 10, from 6 in Z97 Haswell chipset.

Skylake supports both DDR3 and DDR4 memory and there will probably be boards for both memory interfaces. Z97 boards had a single M.2 / SATA express port for the new format SSDs and the new Z170 will come with three of them. You will be able to plug up to three M.2 / SATA express drives in the motherboard. We are not sure that you need that many, but we would be happy with two.

Skylight on Skylake: Details of Intel’s upcoming Skylake generation of CPUs and their accompanying platform controllers has been leaked on a Chinese site. EXPreview has published details of Skylake based on apparently leaked internal presentation slides from Intel. Skylake will introduce a new architecture on the now-proven 14nm process and is expected to hit markets by the end of this year. Desktop versions of the chips intended for installation in socketed motherboards are apparently known as Skylake-S. A new socket, LGA1151, will break compatibility with existing motherboards. A new three-digit naming scheme for chipsets is also needed, as two-digit numbers have been exhausted with the 9X series.

Enthusiasts will also be glad to know that there are planned 95 watt quad-core SKUs that will support unlocked features and overclocking capability. Intel lists an “enhanced” BCLK overclocking with the term “full range” which likely means there will no longer be a need for straps to 125 MHz, etc. A 95 watt TDP is higher than the 88 watt limit we saw on Haswell processors so there is a chance we might actually witness usable performance gains if Intel can get the clock speeds up and above where they sit today with current generation parts.

The use of DMI 3.0, the connection between the processor and the chipset, sees the first increase in bandwidth in many generations. Rated at 8 GT/s, twice that of the DMI 2.0 interface used on Haswell, should allow for fewer bottlenecks on storage and external PCIe connections coming from the chipset.

Specifications of Intel Core i5/i7 Skylake-S Desktop CPUs: A web-site has published what it claims to be specifications of Intel Corp.’s next-generation desktop microprocessors code-named “Skylake-S”. If the information is correct, then the initial “Skylake-S” family will hardly be truly broad and will not impress with high clock-rates.

The upcoming Core i5 and Core i7 “Skylake-S” product lineup will consist of 10 microprocessor models, according to data published by China-based BenchLife web-site, which allegedly obtained an Intel document with specifications of the central processing units. Surprisingly, the initial range of “Skylake-S” microprocessors for desktops will not include any Core i3, Pentium or Celeron offerings, which means that Intel will only target premium market segments with its new chips this year.

Intel Skylake Launch Schedule Surfaces: Lots and lots of info on Skylake surfaces on the web lately. This round itsa roadmap that details the launch schedule of the 6th gen processors. The roadmap is leaked by Benchlife, an Asian website. Next to the desktop range Intel is seriously updating its mobility lineup. The desktop side would be the Skylake-S series, the Skylake-Y series would power the Core M based processors for ultra low TDP devices, Skylake-U processors will be mainstream mobility devices and Skylake-H series are the high-end, performance focused mobility chips that will include both regular HQ variants along with Xeon processors for consumers demanding extra workstation capabilities on developer notebooks.

Intel Skylake 100-Series Chipsets Specifications unveiled: A web-site has published specifications of Intel Corp.’s 100-series core-logic sets designed for the code-named “Skylake” microprocessors due in the third quarter of the year. The new platforms will receive a significant upgrade of PCI Express lanes, which will improve their storage and multi-GPU capabilities. The family of “Skylake”-supporting Intel 100-series chipsets will include six models: Intel Z170, Intel H170, Intel Q170, Intel Q150, Intel B150 and Intel H110, reports Chinese VR-Zone. Traditionally, different core-logic sets will be aimed at different market segments. The only SKU that will support overclocking will be the Z170. Another core-logic – the Q170 – will support corporate-oriented technologies like vPro, active management, small business advantage and some other.

Intel bids Majority of Skylake-S Motherboards to use DDR4: Intel Corp.’s upcoming code-named “Skylake-S” microprocessor will promote the new DDR4 memory standard considerably more aggressively than it was initially believed. Although integrated memory controller of “Skylake” supports different types of DRAM, the processors will not officially support DDR3, but will only be compatible with a low-power version of the technology. As a result, the majority of desktop mainboards for “Skylake” will rely on DDR4.

Manufacturers of mainboards will have to install either 288-pin slots for DDR4 DIMMs or 204-pin slots for DDR3L SO-DIMMs on their LGA1151 platforms, but not 240-pin slots for DDR3 memory modules. Keeping in mind that producers of motherboards tend to follow recommendations of chip designers, the majority of desktop platforms for “Skylake” will use DDR4 memory. Small form-factor systems will continue to use DDR3 SO-DIMMs, but high-performance PCs with Intel’s latest processors will all rely on DDR4.
Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake maybe 4–8% faster than Core i7-4790K: A web-site has published what it claims to be early benchmark results of Intel Corp.’s Core i7-6700K microprocessor based on the “Skylake” micro-architecture. If the results are accurate, then the new chips will be at least four to eight per cent faster than the current mainstream processors with unlocked multiplier. Still, it is too early to draw any conclusions.

CPU-Monkey on Tuesday published a page with alleged Intel Core i7-4790K (four cores with Hyper-Threading, 4GHs/4.4GHz clock-rate, 8MB LLC, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller) vs. Intel Core i7-6700K (four cores with Hyper-Threading, 4GHs/4.2GHz clock-rate, 8MB LLC, dual-channel DDR4/DDR3L memory controller) benchmark results. The web-site did not reveal any details about test bed configurations, when the performance tests were made and by whom. One of the possible sources of the benchmark results are Intel’s own documents for partners, another imaginable source is an Intel partner with access to the new hardware.

PhoneyVirus
Has a passion for computer hardware and dream’s of been a professional technician one day, fairly educated on the subject and opened minded. Programing maybe one of many interest but are divided into what you call time. When he ant learning what’s new, he’s usually jamming out on electric guitar or playing some awesome PC Game.

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There will be no means of professionalism on this blog, it's a place to Rant about Crap that makes the beast come out in me and to let off some steam. So feel free to browse around and enjoy yourself, if you have any questions you like to ask related to computer gear or games click email me PhoneyVirus.

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PhoneyVirus

Now that I have a lot of time on my hands what else is there do but play PC Game's. I spend about fifteen hours a week playing electric guitar noting less, exploring and listening to new music, reading the monthly magazine's from PC Gamer and Maximum PC. Keeping up with the weekly news and keeping Stress down as much as possible the same time.

Also really enjoy looking for new software to play around with Building, Repairing, Tweaking, and Over-Clocking Computers. Modding Hacking Hardware like Routers, Consoles, Satellites and anything I can get my hands on.

When I ant doing any of the above, I'm outside enjoying the sun and ranting about stuff that make’s me mad. Plus repairing other people’s machines from the community, I also rant about that too, but it’s enough to keep me busy and can’t complain when you love doing what you do.